Urban Strife

Urban Strife is a turn-based RPG survival game, with old-school mechanics, set in a post-apocalyptic zombie world. The developer of the game is White Pond Games studio, founded by two developers, responsible for the creation of the Assassin's Creed series and Tom Clancy's games. Urban Strife has advanced AI and allows for advanced gameplay modification.

Plot

The game is being played in the fictional Urban - a small town somewhere in the south of the United States - two years after the virus pandemic almost annihilated all of humanity. The few survivors are fighting a hopeless battle, protecting themselves behind provisional walls and sharing shrinking food supplies.

The story of the player's character begins as soon as she/he is rescued and re-established with the help of the kindly inhabitants of Urban Shelter, and she/he finds out the situation of the community. The survivors are weak and terrified, and too old or too young to grab a weapon and fight. To get out of the walls, they need the guidance of a brave hero who will lead them either to the freedom they want or to ultimate doom.

Mechanics

The main goal is to keep the small Urban community alive. In order to do this, the player and his team of slightly crazy guards have to fight off mass attacks by hordes of zombies. It also has to re-establish the county, rebuild the city's radio, reopen the hospital, reorganise the workshop, provide a solid barrack for the team and so on. His task is also to mediate alliances and combat wars between factions.

The player creates his character from scratch, adjusting his appearance and set of basic skills. The skill tree also allows him to unlock powerful special abilities later on. The hero's reputation built up during the game will also allow him to gain new allies or contribute to the escalation of conflict with hostile groups.

During the battle, the player can use either a shotgun, a powerful assault weapon, or an old baseball bat to fight, or simply attack the enemy with his fists. He also has the ability to create pitfalls into which he can lure zombies and thus get rid of a few at once, without risking a direct attack. Explosive charges and Molotov cocktails allow him to lure enemies out of hiding places, and a pistol with a silencer or a crossbow to quickly and quietly eliminate the zombies. A rare large-calibre rifle, which will destroy not only the entrance but also half the wall of the building, will be used to create more chaos. In Urban Strife each bullet has its own flight trajectory, with a material penetration power specific to each calibre.

The battles are held on an isometric map, with action points and an intermittent tactical layer. They are also divided into turns. The design of the levels allows for tactical flexibility: stopping the shooting, entering through the window, fighting on the roof, destroying the cover. Sneaking is also possible in the game, based on a dynamic sight and hearing range, as well as an advanced warning system against artificial intelligence. The way zombies move is also unique, making them more demanding enemies than in classical strategies. They move in the large groups, all at once during one round, and each operates according to its own sensors and alarms. If a player does not rethink a move well, he will die quickly.

The player has his own fortified base, where he can repair and improve his equipment. Urban Strife economy is very complex, with access to the black market and the possibility to trade fractions. There is also an option to create your own weapons or equipment in specialised workshops. A player can also gain secret recipes by searching hidden areas, making contact with unusual NPCs or creating alliances with certain factions.

The decisions made during the game have an impact on the story and changes taking place in the city. The reputation of the main character also determines how he will be perceived by the individual NPC groups. As long as the inhabitants of Urban have access to water and food, they will be willing to support the hero in his actions. In order to provide them with good conditions, the player must establish alliances with the gangs operating in the city, which will provide support, access to unique materials and weapons. There are three strong groups in Urban Strife which, depending on the player's actions, can help or turn against him: The Cult of Second Chance, The Shady Lady Bikers and The Rogue Army Garrison.

Urban Strife is equipped with a Modding SDK, containing a powerful editor and design system that will allow both simple and more advanced modification and customization of the game to the player's needs.

Technical aspects

The game offers pleasant, three-dimensional graphics, shown in an isometric view.